Oil/Gas Shareholders in Senate Hear Testimony from Industry Execs

With gas prices the highest they’ve ever been, the oil and gas executives who testified this morning before the Senate Judiciary Committee had to feel like they were in the hot seat. But as they were being grilled about skyrocketing prices, they could take some comfort in the strong financial relationship their industry has with lawmakers, including those on the committee.

In 2006, the most recent year for which there’s processed data on politicians’ personal finances, four Republicans currently on the Judiciary Committee had between $30,600 and $135,600 invested in the five companies whose executives testified today, BP, Shell Oil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) had the most invested of the four, a sole investment in BP worth at least $15,001. (Remember that politicians disclose their assets in ranges, making it impossible to pinpoint the exact values.) Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) followed with a minimum total of $10,600 invested in Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Exxon. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla) are also shareholders in these companies, or at least they were in 2006.

Beyond the companies represented at today’s hearing, six Judiciary members were invested in the larger oil and gas industry, for a total of between $119,700 and $468,700. In 2006 (2007 reports were just filed and won’t be available until next month), committee members had the most money invested in Energen Corp, though only Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Hatch were invested in the company (their investments were worth at least $66,000). Only one Democratic member of the committee, Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland reported any holdings in the oil and gas industry; his investments were worth at least $5,100 in 2006.

Congress in full had between $10.5 million and $31.1 million invested in 2006 in the five companies whose executives testified today. Exxon was the most popular investment among the five, with members of Congress owning at least $5.3 million in stockShell and Chevron followed. Considering how oil companies have profited from high prices in the last two years, and assuming these lawmakers haven’t dumped their stocks since 2006, the value of their personal investments in this industry has soared.

Lawmakers benefit from the industry not only through personal investments but also in campaign contributions. Since the 1990 election cycle, oil and gas interests have contributed more than $216 million to federal candidates and parties, 75 percent of which went to Republicans. Current members of the Judiciary Committee have received $4.1 million of that during their careers, with Republicans getting 85 percent of the cut. Of the committee members, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has collected the most from the industry at $1.2 million. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), and Brownback of Kansas follow. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the committee’s chairman, has received $9,250 from the industry, while ranking Republican Hatch has collected $237,500. So far this election cycle, the industry has given Congress $8 million and ranks 17th among the most generous industries to federal politics.

Except for the Revolving Door section, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License by OpenSecrets.org. To request permission for commercial use, please contact us.